Mining Builds

Laser miners

Laser mining is the simple, chill version of mining. You use prospector limpets to find a rock with the resource you want, then shoot it with lasers until it’s “empty”. For the current laser mining meta – the best resources to mine, and the best places to find them – check the pinned post in the EliteMiners subreddit.

Note on travelling and selling: Nowadays you can usually find a good mining spot with Fleet Carriers in orbit willing to buy what you mine, meaning you don’t have to undertake the often long and risky journey to find a station to sell at yourself. (Many a new miner has a sad tale to tell regarding losing cargo to pirates on the sell journey, or getting to a station a hundred lightyears away only to find its price has dropped!) Regardless, if you plan to travel long distances with or without mined cargo, swap out some modules for the highest level, highest rated fuel scoop you can, and a Guardian FSD Booster if you have one. You can store them at the nearest station before mining, then retrieve them when you’re done and ready to travel.

Note on Resource Extraction Sites (RES sites): RES sites give a boost to fragments gained lasermining from rocks, with higher danger sites giving a bigger boost. There are various tricks to minimize attacks by pirates but none are 100% reliable. Nevertheless, mapped Hazardous RES sites currently offer the best time:money ratio available in Elite mining, provided you have access to a “big 3” ship and sufficient engineering to defend yourself without system security to help. High RES sites and lower can be attempted in less well defended ships, but YMMV as to whether system security is able to adequately protect you. For full guides and a wide variety of maps, check the extremely comprehensive pinned post in r/EliteMiners.

Note on Limpets: All Limpet Controllers require limpet drones to work. Limpets are a generic item which take up cargo space (1 limpet = 1 ton), and their role is determined when they’re launched by a Limpet Controller. You purchase limpets at Advanced Maintenance on a Station or suitably-equipped Fleet Carrier before heading to your mining site. You will repeatedly forget to do this.

DON’T FORGET YOUR LIMPETS!

Asp Explorer //

Asp Explorer

Beginner’s Laser Asp

Overview: A great starter laser miner, but if you see pirates then run.

Notes: An Asp is a nice ship to have and you can refit it as a bubble taxi or exploration vessel after you finish using it for mining, but you’ll only need to make a couple of runs to be able to afford a Python. There’s no reason to use an Asp for laser mining if you can afford any of the better ships listed below.

Python //

Python

BEginner’s Laser Python

Overview: A direct upgrade to the Asp, and better able to survive the odd pirate encounter – so long as you don’t try to fight.

Notes: A bi-weave shield will give you less staying power in each individual engagement but far more shields over the course of a mining run, particularly if you’re a fan of lithobraking. If you use A‑class, use Reboot/Repair to restore shields to 50% whenever they drop below that and it’s safe to do so.

Anaconda //

Anaconda

Beginner’s Laser Anaconda

Overview: When all you have is cash, this ship will help you get more of it via applying lasers to rocks. Without engineering, it can adequately hold its own against beginner-level pirates.

Imperial Cutter //

Imperial Cutter

Laser Mining Cutter

Overview: You’ll run out of patience long before you run out of room for ore. The best unarmed laser miner.

Notes: The Cutter doesn’t stop well. Thankfully, planetary rings are full of large rocks/blocks of ice, and you have shields. This technique is called “lithobraking” and it can dramatically cut down your transit times!

Purchasing the Imperial Cutter requires achieving an Imperial Navy rank of Duke!

Imperial Cutter //

Imperial Cutter

HazRes Cutter

Overview: The King of the RES site, nothing can hold more minerals or survive as easily as a Cutter.

Fighter: You can use any fighter you like, but for maximum DPS and survivability for Dangerous NPC pilots and above, an Imperial Gelid‑F Gu-97 is recommended. It is however recommended to hire NPC pilots at Harmless level and train them up yourself, in which case a Rogue‑G F63 or Taipan may offer better survivability.

Notes:

A bi-weave shield will give you less staying power in each individual engagement but far more shields over the course of a mining run, particularly if you’re a fan of lithobraking. However, if you don’t mind taking a break to use Reboot/Repair to restore shields to 50% whenever they drop too far, you can use a 6A Prismatic Shield with Reinforced/Hi-Cap to gain significantly more survivability; if you go this route, swap one of the Resistance Augmented Shield Boosters to Thermal Resist, and add another rank of Overcharge to your Power Plant.
Set pips to 4÷0÷2 when fighting pirates for maximum survivability.
Bear in mind the necessity of not losing your place in a map (if doing a mapped run) limits your ability to manoeuvre.
Swapping the nacelle-mounted mining laser to the huge hardpoint makes fragment spawn management significantly easier, and is fine for High RES sites or below. For Hazardous RES sites, an offensive weapon in the Huge slot is recommended.

Purchasing the Imperial Cutter requires achieving an Imperial Navy rank of Duke!

Bi-weave Variant

Prismatic Variant

Core Miners

Core mining is more involved and “interesting” than laser mining, and works on almost entirely different principles. As usual, the best resource for guides remains /r/EliteMiners. The following builds won’t feature fighting capabilities as you will not engage in combat when starting a core mining session with only limpets. If you had to logout mid session, your best bet is to just drop what the pirates request.

DON’T FORGET YOUR LIMPETS!

Python //

Python

Basic Core Python

Overview: Good core mining ship without engineering.

Notes: This python is your “all you really need” Core mining ship before getting into engineering. This build already works great and the engineering improvements in the build below are just quality of life improvements, as the biggest problem this Python faces is its short jumprange. Up to 5 collector limpets will gather the materials and deliver them to your refinery. Set your fuel scoop to power priority 2, you don’t need it when mining with hardpoints extended.

Python //

Python

improved Core Python

Overview: Partly engineered fast core miner with decent range.

Notes: This build has better thrusters and a better FSD providing more comfort while mining and when delivering the goods to a station – perfect when mining with or without fleet carrier support! Up to 5 collector limpets will gather the materials and deliver them to your refinery. Set your fuel scoop and frame shift drive to power priority 2, you don’t need it when mining with hardpoints extended.

Imperial Clipper //

Imperial Clipper

Core Miner Clipper

Overview: Carrier-based core mining isn’t going to get better than this.

Notes: Even faster than the Python with the same cargo space. The big downside is: this ship needs large landing pads, meaning you can’t sell everywhere. Recommended when unloading to a carrier.

Purchasing the Imperial Clipper requires achieving an Imperial Navy rank of Baron!